AI Generated Release Notes – Step by Step Guide for Product Owners

Release notes? I barely have time to write tickets.

You know the moment. The sprint review is done, tickets are closed, and your team is already jumping into the next thing. Then someone asks:

“Hey, can you write the release notes?”

And just like that, you’re staring at a blank page. Maybe you scroll through Jira, skim the tickets, and think: What did we even do that really creates value for users? Should I list all the changes? Should I explain them? Who is this even for?

It’s one of those tasks that seem small but can eat up a surprising amount of time, especially when you want to get it right. And because you’re already juggling stakeholder updates, cleaning up the backlog, refinements, and a dozen Slack threads, release notes often fall to the bottom of the priority list – or worse, get done halfway and shared with a vague, “here’s the update” message that no one actually reads.

But here’s the thing: Writing good release notes is a great chance.

In this article, we will show you how you can use AI-generated release notes to keep your users informed without spending hours checking what was done, writing and formatting.

What Are Release Notes and Why Should You Care?

At their core, release notes are short summaries of what has changed in your product between two versions. They’re often shared at the end of a sprint, a milestone, or a major release. Depending on your team setup, they might live in Confluence, be emailed to stakeholders, published on your website, or sent out via in-app notifications.

This is where it gets tricky: not all release notes are created equal, and not all of them serve the same audience.

Some release notes are aimed at end users, helping them understand what’s new and how the product is evolving. Others are for internal teams – customer support, sales, marketing, leadership – who need to stay in sync with what’s been delivered. And in many product teams, they’re also a way to keep stakeholders aligned without jumping on another Teams call.

So even though it may feel like an “extra” task, release notes actually touch three critical areas:

• User communication – letting customers know what’s new and building trust in your product.
• Team alignment – keeping the rest of your company in the loop without extra meetings.
• Product storytelling – reinforcing the value your team is delivering and why it matters.

Now imagine the opposite: you ship important changes, but no one knows. Users don’t see what’s improved. Sales doesn’t know about the new feature. Stakeholders think nothing moved. And then you start getting requests for things that already exist.

Because no matter how amazing your new features are:

It’s not worth anything if no one uses it. So use your release notes to make people use your product. You can use them to show users that you’re listening and that you are improving the product based on their feedback. On top of that, it can re-engage users who haven’t checked in for a while – because now they see something new that matters to them.

Think of Release Notes Like an Elevator Pitch

Even though we just told you release notes are important, there’s something that you also have to hear (but please don’t be discouraged, keep reading!).

Everyone is busy.

Your team, sales, marketing, the CEO, your users. No one is waiting for your release notes to finally arrive. Actually, they might probably be rather distracting people in whatever they’re doing. So think of it like giving an elevator pitch. You have 30 seconds before the ride is over to explain what you shipped and why it matters. That’s about how long someone spends skimming your notes – if you’re lucky.

Most people don’t read release notes in detail. They glance. They scan. And unless you give them a reason to stop scrolling, they’re gone.

So your job is to make that quick read count. The goal isn’t to list every change – it’s to hook attention, highlight value, and build a relationship with your users and stakeholders. That’s what a good pitch does. And that’s what a good release note should do too.

Why Most Release Notes Fall Flat (and How to Do Better)

Let’s be honest – most release notes out there are either too technical or too vague – or just boring. You’ve probably seen ones that look like raw Jira exports: ticket titles, internal IDs, abbreviations only the dev team understands. Or, on the flip side, you get fluffy lines like “We’ve made some exciting improvements!” without any actual substance.

The result? People ignore them. And that’s a missed opportunity.

Good release notes do one thing: They show users why they should care.

This is your moment to speak directly to your users – to show them you’re listening, that their feedback drives real changes, and that you’re building this product for them.

Instead of saying, “Added export feature,” you could say:

“You asked for easier reporting – you’ve got it. You can now export your data as a CSV with one click.”

Or instead of just listing a fix:

“Thanks to everyone who flagged the Safari login issue – it’s fixed now. Keep the feedback coming.”

These are small touches, but they turn a generic update into a human message. They make users feel included, heard, and part of something that’s evolving with them. Use your release notes not just to inform – but to connect.

How to Write Clear, Useful Release Notes (Without Losing Your Mind)

Let’s break it down into the pieces that matter. First off, you’re not writing a legal document. You’re not reporting to a board. You’re communicating, as a human, to another human – someone who wants to know what changed and whether it affects them.

1. Start by thinking about your audience.

Who are you writing for? Is it internal teams? External users? Leadership? Each group might need different information, or at least a slightly different focus.

In practice, almost nobody writes three separate versions of release notes. Most teams write one version and hope it works for everyone. The result? Nobody gets them.

Here's our suggestion for a more pragmatic approach:

• Write a base version for external users: “You can now log in with Face ID, no need to type your password.”
• Add a short internal note for Support and Sales: “This feature was requested by several enterprise customers (see tickets #123, #145). Here are the key benefits.”
• To be honest with you: Leadership rarely reads release notes. But that’s why the impact must be obvious. Give them a short summary: “This release, we added Face ID login. Faster logins lead to more daily active users and more sales.”

2. Set the context.

Open with a short intro that gives a sense of what this release is about. If someone reads only this paragraph, they should already understand the shape of the update: What’s new and why should they keep reading? This is the first floor of your elevator ride. Make it count, or your users might actually stop the elevator and take the stairs instead.

3. Group by themes, not tickets.

Don’t dump everything into a flat list. Organize updates in a way that makes sense to the reader. For internal teams, a structure like New / Improved / Fixed works well because it’s easy to scan and covers all change types.

But for end users, that’s too abstract. They don’t think in categories of “new” or “fixed” – they think in terms of what they actually use. Group by features, workflows, or product areas (e.g. Profile, Search, Notifications) so they can immediately spot what matters to them.

And don’t just list what you changed – explain the impact. Show what it means in practice.

4. Use simple language.

Release notes aren’t for engineers – unless your product is literally a tool for developers. Otherwise, drop the jargon.

Don't say: “Introduced enhanced authentication protocol for elevated security.” Say: “You can now log in with Face ID.”

Use your 30 seconds wisely.

You’re not a brilliant writer, no marketing expert, just a normal product guy? Don’t worry, you can still write amazing release notes.

How to Skip the Busywork and Let AI Help You

Yes, we’ve all heard it: “AI just writes generic, boring stuff, no scrollstoppers.” And yes, sometimes that’s true. A lot of AI-generated content ends up sounding dry, vague, and forgettable.

But do you know why? AI was trained on everything the internet has to offer – and let’s be honest, that includes a lot of exactly that: Average, boring stuff – especially when it comes to work-related topics. The good news? It also includes smart, creative, and well-written examples. That means it can write clear, humanfriendly texts. Your job is to trigger it the right way.

We’ve prepared a prompt that helps you do this:

Prompt for creating Release NotesCopy
You are an experienced Product Owner responsible for writing clear and easy to understand release notes. Create release notes for our product [Product Name] v [version number]. 
      
Use a simple, non-technical language and focus on user outcomes.
And remember: People are busy, they don’t have time and we have to assume they don’t care about our product.

Our goal for these release notes: To make them pause. To make them care. To build a relationship with them and encourage them to use our product.
      
In the release notes:

1. Categorize the following updates into “New Features”, “Improvements”, and “Fixed issues”.
"""
[List of Updates, e.g. closed Jira issues]
""" 

2. Describe the new features, showing which problems it solves for the user.

3. Explain the improvements made to existing features, explaining how the improvements lead to a better user experience. The output should aim for 150-300 words. Include the release title, a 1-2 sentences high-level overview, the given categories, and a short Call-to-Action.

Just copy this prompt into ChatGPT or any AI tool of your choice.

How to Automate Writing Release Notes

Here’s where it gets good. You don’t need to do this all by hand. If you’re still digging through Jira manually, summarizing updates yourself, and formatting everything in Confluence – you’re wasting your time.

Of course, you can start by doing it manually to see if it works for you. But if you really want AI to make work efficient, you need to stop the copy and paste thing. Use an AI that knows your product and what you are working on.

If you want to truly automate release notes, the key is start using tools that already know your sprint context, such as Product Copilot, an AI tool that integrates directly in your Jira. You won’t need to copy that prompt, select Jira issues from the finished sprint manually and copy them into ChatGPT. You just say something like:

“Use all issues from the current sprint, status done. Generate release notes for our users in our typical style and create a Confluence page.”

It pulls the tickets, groups them sensibly, writes release notes in a way that sounds like you, and formats them properly. No messy copy-paste, no Jira archaeology. Try it yourself.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Just Write – Test Your Notes

Even if you manage to write clear, friendly release notes – with ChatGPT or Product Copilot – there’s still a chance users won’t understand them the way you intended. Here’s a smart trick: once you’ve drafted your notes, give them to an AI and ask:

“What might still be unclear to users after reading this?” or “Where might users stop reading and how can I avoid that?”

You’ll be surprised how much this helps. It’s like having a test audience that gives you instant feedback.

Stop Reading, Start Doing

We were wondering how we can help you to put it into practice. But we know you don’t need another template. You need release notes that actually get read – and tools that make them easy to create. So try the prompt. Open ChatGPT and get started. And if you’re up for it, let Product Copilot do it for you. We’re offering a 28-day free trial so that you can try it yourself.

Take those 5 minutes now, and turn your next release into something your users actually care about. Because if something can be done better and faster with AI – it probably should be.